What The Best CEOs Do Better Than The Rest
Originally published May 6, 2025 on Forbes
Over 25 years working with CEOs I’ve found a few things distinguish the best from the rest. These aren’t fads or fancy frameworks, but rather daily spadework that cultivates a culture of collaborative excellence. There’s no formulaic way to strengthen these behaviors and no CEO is great at them out of the gates. These behaviors require experimentation, practice, and humility. And they require a willingness to move past clichéd, oversimplified conceptualizations of leadership to understand what it really takes to get the best from an organization.
They’re masters at separating signals from noise
CEOs are inundated with countless places to put their energy. A critical few are signals; most are noise. Separating the two is an artform because signals tend to be wrapped in layers of noise. Decoupling them is as much a political exercise as a technical one. The best CEOs move quickly to develop a working thesis of signals vs noise. They socialize the thesis with relevant players, deepening understanding and building alignment. They listen intently to understand opportunities, concerns, and anxieties. They combat complexity with clear messaging and stories to help stakeholders make sense of the organization's focus and potential. Throughout the process they manage a tricky balance: move too quickly and people push back; move too slowly and people lose confidence.
They don’t meddle in too many decisions
CEOs tend to be confident people. As such, they can stick their noses in a lot of places. It’s an understandable urge, but the meddling creates more problems than it solves. First, CEOs risk burning out as they get pulled in too many directions. Second, they limit their ability to move fast and grow as they become an inevitable bottleneck. Lastly, they create a dependency that undermines the development of leaders below them. The best CEOs take the reins on big strategic decisions, then largely remove themselves. They create clear expectations for how decisions should be made, then push decision making down in the organization. They expect executives under them to do the same. It’s the only way a business scales.
They look for learning everywhere
The best CEOs drop the pretense that they know everything. They stay constantly curious, looking for learning everywhere. They get out of their office and spend time with employees. They get out of the building and spend time with customers. They sit down with partners, investors, and board members. With each group it's the same three questions: What’s working? What isn’t? And how can we do better? They probe answers and dig for insight. They understand that the most important signals for navigating the road ahead won’t show up as bright lights and loud bells, but rather faint flashes and low whispers that are easily missed. So they build a culture where everyone keeps their eyes, ears, and minds open. It’s the only way an organization survives and thrives in change.
They stay centered when storms hit
Being a CEO is a physical, mental, and emotional roller coaster. The best CEOs stay centered amidst the inevitable ups and downs. It starts with the physical. They eat well, exercise, and get adequate sleep. Without this foundation, the mental and emotional rigors become impossible to manage. They’re also clear on their values. They know the CEO role is a never-ending test of boundaries in which they will lose their footing if they don’t stick to what they believe in. Finally, the best CEOs get to know their triggers and spot them early. They learn what makes them frustrated, impatient, anxious, and annoyed, developing strategies to address the triggers before they hijack their emotional state. Don’t Bite The Hook is a good resource for getting better at working with triggers.
They make the people around them better
The most telling indicator of an effective CEO is the behavior of the people around them. Are they making good decisions, continuously improving, and staying centered in the storm? This stuff can’t be faked. If the CEO isn’t embodying the above behaviors no one else will either. Bringing out the best in people isn’t complicated, its just hard. It takes role modeling desired behavior, believing others can do it, supporting them, and then holding them accountable. The best CEOs don’t create easy places to work or even comfortable ones, but rather places where people are clear on what excellence looks like and rise to the occasion to deliver it.
Nothing in this article is easy to do and no CEO nails this stuff all the time. It’s a ton of experimentation filled with a lot of mistakes. The best CEOs are those who have the courage to screw up more often than others. If you’re a senior executive and feel stuck on a decision, trust your instincts. If it works, keep doing it. If it doesn’t, try something else. Make your experimentation visible. Share both successes and failures. Nothing builds a culture of learning like seeing the CEO leading the charge. We live in a business world where people are addicted to looking good all the time. It’s boring. It’s bulls**t. And it never gets the best results. Don’t underestimate how refreshing, inspiring, and motivating it is for people to see a real person in the top job.